Run Hard at the Rainbow Bridge My Angel Sock-M! I Love You Baby Girl! Now that your Mom Starlit is up there too, please help her learn the ropes, love and keep her company until I can see you both again. Starlit I love you!http://i14.tinypic.com/2a8q345.jpg

Purple wrote:I thought Michelle was in the witness protection program....

Michelle gave up. Hopefully the Mafia won't catch on.

He is very well behaved in the ring... after a lot of practice! At his first show he puked a few times. He has a great set of theatrics when you use a choke or prong on him. Well, he did that routine for a while and has now mostly given it up because I wait him out. I'm sure it worked for him at some point, (pre-Chris I"m sure) but it doesn't work with me.

the first time I brought him around 5 intact dogs at training he had a holy temper tantrum. He screamed bloody murder the entire time. After a few training sessions he gave that up. It was a gradual process.

The next thing we did was take a conformation class at a local training club. The frist two classes were an adventure but then he calmed down and we were fine. His stacking needs a lot of work - mostly from handler error. I'm not sure I'll keep showing him though, he's not what the judges tend to put up; according to a number of VERY experienced people who show Pits.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

mnp13 wrote:The next thing we did was take a conformation class at a local training club. The frist two classes were an adventure but then he calmed down and we were fine. His stacking needs a lot of work - mostly from handler error. I'm not sure I'll keep showing him though, he's not what the judges tend to put up; according to a number of VERY experienced people who show Pits.

I thought he looked great. Don't let anyone tell you what the judges like. The judges are supposed to pick the best dog in the ring that day. There are many different judges and though there is one standard they still have their preferrneces and interpretations of it. He looks good to me running around the ring.

LOL Now when you see my goofy loon, you'll think Riggs is an angel. Samurai has so much "play" drive it is all I can do to get him to stand still for 2 seconds.
Everyone always offers to take my others in if I need help, but no one offers to take him. I always just say we are the comic relief.

My feeling is the ring is to have fun and when eithwr the dog or I stop having fun, I won't show any more

Patch O' Pits Pursuit-O-Perfection

Run Hard at the Rainbow Bridge My Angel Sock-M! I Love You Baby Girl! Now that your Mom Starlit is up there too, please help her learn the ropes, love and keep her company until I can see you both again. Starlit I love you!http://i14.tinypic.com/2a8q345.jpg

I'm not sure I'll keep showing him though, he's not what the judges tend to put up; according to a number of VERY experienced people who show Pits

not to take anything away from conformation(because it keeps the standard up) but-your success-or lack ofin some cases-is totally dependant on one persons opinion.if a dog isn't what a judge is looking for there is no training you can do to fix or help. my self i tend to stay away from conformation because it opens the door for dissappointment i can't prevent. in weight pulling if i want to win we train harder . if i lose to a better dog there is no dissagreement -the dog who pulls the most wins
michelle-don't give up on showing riggs yet(don't let the judges get the best of you) sooner or later you will get your win

grizzly wrote:michelle-don't give up on showing riggs yet(don't let the judges get the best of you) sooner or later you will get your win

Actually, that's it exactly, if you show long enough eventually your dog will get the points needed to finish at whatever level. I know someone who took four years of constant showing to finish her dog. Granted, that's an extreme, but it's not important enough to me to sink hundreds of dollars into it for a couple extra letters added to his name.

I finished Riggs in 9 shows which I don't think is too bad. (well, actually, 6 but there was an error at the UKC so we had to get another to finish)

I like pulling though, and the show/pull combined entries aren't all that much more than just the pull alone, so if I keep up the pulling I'll probably show then.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.